CM Life nominated for seven SPJ awards; wins eight photo honors

Jonas, 33, stares off into the distance during morning prayer on Tuesday, September 25. Jonas takes a shuttle to a workshop every morning after his brothers leave for school. Because of their conditions, Jonas and Jacob are unable to attend church, so they perform religious rituals at home. (Courtesy photo by Zack Wittman/Staff Photographer)

Central Michigan Life has been nominated for the Best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

In addition to the best all-around award, CM Life was nominated for six other awards in editorial writing and photography. The winners of the SPJ awards will be announced at the Region 4 Spring Conference on April 5 and 6 in Dayton, Ohio.

“We consistently do well at SPJ, and we’ve won plenty of first-place awards before. These last rounds of nominations show that we are consistently doing great things here at Central Michigan University,” CM Life Editor-in-Chief and Redford senior Aaron McMann said.

CM Life also won eight awards in the Michigan Press Photographers Association 2012 competition, including all three top spots in the College Photographer of the Year award. Novi sophomore Zach Wittman was named College Photographer of the Year, followed by alums Mike Mulholland of Lakeview and Ashley Miller of Farmington Hills.

“The Central Michigan photojournalism department is one of the top programs in the nation. The awards speak very highly about the professors and the strong work ethic our photographers have,” CM Life photo editor and Bloomfield Hills senior Victoria Zegler said. “It’s just keeping the tradition alive. We do very well at these competitions, and I hope it stays that way for a very long time.”

McMann also said the CMU photojournalism department deserves praise.

“We have one of the best photography programs in the country, and I can say that with confidence,” he said. “I’ve worked with some of the best photographers in the country during my time here. I will not be surprised when I see these photographers doing great things in the next five to 10 years.”

In all, CM Life photographers and recent alumni were awarded six first-place awards, six second-place awards, three third-place awards and 12 honorable mentions from the MPPA.

Zegler said the awards help her desk focus and improve as a whole.

“It definitely gets my staff inspired when they go to these conferences and they come back seeing that their peers have won awards,” she said. “They get a new and fresh perspective of their work and want to improve on their photography.”

CM Life’s SPJ editorial awards include editorial writing by Eric Dresden, Andrew Dooley, Aaron McMann and Mike Nichols.

CM Life’s SPJ photography awards include breaking news photography by Jeffery Smith; general news photography by Adam Niemi; general news photography by Jake May; photo illustration by Victoria Zegler and sports photography by Libby March. Rankings will be announced in April.